Automatic railway signaling



Oct. 26, 1937. R. G. SEMOND AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SIGNALING Filed July 27, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 26, 1937. R. G. SEMOND AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SIGNALING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 27, 1956 Z i W JV y w w m M I V v Patented Oct. 26, 1937 Ao'roMA'rio RAILWAY SIGNALING Roger Georges Semond, Clichy-laeGarenne,

. France Application July 27, 1936, Serial No. 92,817

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to a system of automatic signaling and control intended to cover a train by providing for a certain distance behind it, a state of occupation which can be seen by- L following trains and even efiecting their braking.

This system comprises movable stops disposed along the railroad at slight distances apart adapted to act'on a pedal carried by the locomotive to effect a signal or the braking; such stops are successively set by the passage of the train over pedals disposed: at the same distance apart and released by the fitting of an nth stop. in front of them in such a manner that there are always 11. stops which are set, at the rear of the train, .the latter thus being constantly protected over a distance equal to'n times the distance apart of the stops, 11. being the quotient of the cover distancedesired by the distance apart of the stops.

The invention comprises a constructional emensuring thesame eifects, the setting means forthe stops and the release means therefor being also obtainable by means of operating means actuated by hand from fixedpositions.

The invention also provides for the use of the reactions produced by the engagement of the pedals on the railroad with the contact members on the locomotive for effecting means for controlling the operation from the locomotive itself.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of a portion of the railroad equipped in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal elevation, to a larger scale, of an apparatus showing a form of construction; Fig. 3 is a corresponding plan View.

On the railroad are disposed at an appropriate distance one from the other, for instance 20 metres, pedals a a, a which are adapted to be actuated by the passage of a locomotive or the like, for example a rail-coach such as shown at A. Each pedal pivots on a spindle n and acts" on a handle 12 of a shaft b which carries, on the other hand, a cam c acting in cooperation with a roller (2 carried by a carriage e which can roll on an inclined stationary support the said carriage carrying a stop such as g in such a manner that the depression of the pedal 0. or a? etc.

causes the rotation of the cam c in the direction of the arrow and causes the carriagee to rise on the inclined support until it touches the stop h lifting at the same time the stop g; which is-' adapted to engage a similar member on the second railcar or the like which happens to be at the entry of a section occupied by'the first railcar, the engagement with said member of the second railcar or the like serving to actuate a signal or the brakes. A wedge i pulled by -a spring i'then engages between the ,rear of the carriage e and the stop R: of' the-support and holds it thus in its highrposition. i

The carriage e further carriesta finger lwhich is capable of engaging .a roller m providedon the rod o which extends along the railroad, the forward end of which is shaped like a hook p the external surface of which is inclined while its rear end is formed as an identical hook but turned in the reverse direction in such a manner that each hook p of the forward end of a rod can engage with the hook qofthe rearzend of the next rod which follows at a short distance, given that such -;a rod corresponds with each pedal, a rod corresponding to the pedal a a rod 0 corresponding to the pedal a etc. Each rod in addition carries, near the hook p, a roller r and, on the other hand, a finger s to whichis connected a cable 15 which winds on a drum u'which is spring actuated, to return the rod o 'backward, after release, as will. be explained hereafter.

The operation of the device is as follows:-

The railcar A; in passing over the pedal, 0. in the direction indicated by the arrow, presses. down this pedal a which strikes the handle b and causes, as stated above, the rise ofsthe: carriage e and of its stop a which latter then takes up a position such that it can act on a pedal or other similar means carried by a vehicle which happened to pass this point of the railroad and bring about on such vehicle any result desired particularly the automatic braking.

In moving forward, the finger Z of the carriage pushes the roller m and consequently the rod 0 the forward hook of which p engages with the rear hook q of the following rod 0 When subsequently the railcar passes over the next following pedal a corresponding to this rod 0 the latter by thesame means as those which have been referred to, advances by a certain distance carrying along the rod 0 which is hookedv to it and itself engages by its forward end in the rear end of the next rod 0 and so on. The rod 0 therefore advances by a determined distance each time the railcar passes over a new pedal and when it passes over the pedal (1., the roller r of this rod 0 arrives above a stationary inclined plane U i which effects the lifting of the forward end of the said rod 0 and its release from the hook q. Drawn by the spring drum u to which it is connected by the cable t as explained above, this rod 0 then re-assumes its initial position as well as all the other parts corresponding to the pedal 1 the wedge i which served to hold the carriage e in its high position being itself withdrawn by the cable a: which is also connected to the drum u which is spring actuated. Likewise the passage of the railcar over thepedal which follows pedal a will effect the unhooking and return of the rod 0 and the release of the stop 9 The working surface of the stops and the pedals may be lined with spring blades such as y (Fig.

3) in order to reduce the shocks, these blades in flattening out, entering, if desired, appropriate pedals of different systems, the stop g being removable and being capable of receiving any appropriate corresponding shape. 7

The wedge 2' instead of being actuated as decribed, can be withdrawn by direct co-action with the corresponding lateral rod. The carriage ecould moreoverbe retained in its high position by any means other than the wedge i.

It will be understood that for the mechanical operation of the release for the stops, the rods could be replaced by metal wires, cables, chains acting in conjunction with levers or other means for producing the same effect. The invention also providesfor the setting and release of the stops by operating means actuated from stationary points which would permit of replacing external visual or sonorous signals by the introduction of elements suitable for producing the independent stopping without intervention of the driver. I i

The reactions produced by the engagement'of the pedals on the rail road with the contact mem-.

bers on the locomotive could be used for the establishment of means for controlling the operation on the' locomotive itself.

Generally speakingthe invention will permit by appropriate means of establishing a permanent connection between convoys and with stationary points for all useful purposes relative to uniformity of exploitation, securityand control. f

I claim: 7

1. System for signaling and automatic control for protecting railway trains comprising in combination, a plurality of pedals disposed on the railway track, a cam controlled by each of said pedals, an inclined stationary support, a travelling carriage mounted on said inclined support, the cam engaging said carriage, the carriage travelling up the incline acted upon by said cam, a stop adapted to engage a corresponding valve arm on a car carried by the carriage, spring blades carried by the stop closing the permanent Way, a finger carried by the carriage, rods disposed end to end longitudinally of the permanent way, a downwardly directed hook carried by the forward end of each rod, an upwardly directed hook carried by the rear end of each rod the hooks of adjacent rods engaging, a roller carried by each rod, a finger carried by the carriage', said finger engaging said roller for moving the rod to engage the hooks, and an inclined plane in engagement with a roller for disengaging the hooks returning the system to initial position.

2. In a system for signalingand automatic control for protecting railway trains comprising, in combination, a plurality of rods disposed along the permanent way, a downwardly directed hook at the front extremity of each rod, an upwardly directed hook carriedby the rear end of each rod, said hooks being adapted to engage for the mutual hooking of said rod hooks, a roller carried by each rod, movable carriages, a finger carried by each movablecarriage engaging the roller of the respective, rod, an inclined plane mounted on the side of the .permanent way, a roller engaging said inclined plane for disengaging the hooks, and means for moving back the unhooked rods.

3. System for signaling and automatic control for protecting railway trains comprising, in combination, a plurality of rollers disposed along the permanent way, a plurality of movable rods each carrying one of said rollers, engaging hooks carried by the ends of said rods, an inclined support, a movable carriage mounted on said inclined support, a finger carried by said movable carriage engaging said roller, a cam actuated by a passing train for moving said carriage, another roller carried by each rod, an inclined plane secured at the side of the permanent way, said last roller engaging said inclined plane to disengage the rod hooks, means for returning the unhooked rods to their initial positions, and means for returning the carriage to its initial position.

ROGER GEORGES SEMOND. 

